Childhood trauma, such as sexual or emotional abuse, can raise the risk of multiple sclerosis by up to 65 per cent, a new study suggests.

Child abuse is known to disrupt brain and hormonal signals, which can lead to a dangerous state of inflammation in the body, heightening the risk of disease.

But it is the first time that a major study has found a link between trauma and MS – an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks nerve fibres and their insulation, leading to muscle spasms, balance problems and neurodegeneration.

Researchers at Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, studied nearly 78,000 women between 1999 and 2008, of whom 14,477 had been abused as children.

Of the 300 women who developed MS during the period, nearly one quarter had been abused as children compared to fewer than one fifth of those without the condition.

After accounting for potentially influential factors, such as smoking, obesity, educational attainment, and household income, women who had been sexually abused had a 65 per cent greater risk of MS.

Those abused emotionally had a 40 per cent increased risk, while physical abuse increased the risk of MS by 31 per cent. When exposed to all three, the risk nearly doubled (99 per cent).

The lifetime risk of developing MS in the UK is around 1 in 330.

Writing in the BMJ, the authors concluded: “Better understanding of the risk factors and timing of risk exposures, may open doors for prevention and give further insight to disease mechanisms.”